Completed Event: Women's Ice Hockey versus #9/9 Clarkson University on October 17, 2025 , Win , 2, to, 1
Women's Ice Hockey
vs #9/9 Clarkson University
Final
2
-
1
Providence College Athletics
Friday, November 1
Worcester, Mass.
7:05 P.M.
Providence College
at
Holy Cross
Photo by: Stew Milne
Women's Hockey Travels to Holy Cross and No. 7 Boston College
10/31/2019 12:33:00 PM | Women's Ice Hockey
Puck Drop
The Friars will travel to the College of Holy Cross Crusaders (Nov. 1) and No. 7 Boston College (Nov. 2) this weekend for two Hockey East road matchups. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. on Friday night and 4:00 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Scouting the Friars
The Friars are currently 3-3-2 overall and 1-1-0 in Hockey East play. Providence earned a 1-0 shutout victory over No. 3 Northeastern to open league action (Oct. 25). Hayley Lunny (Bedford, N.Y.) scored the game's lone goal 3:18 into the second period and Clare Minnerath (Sartell, Minn.) posted a career-high 33 saves to fuel the win. It marked her first shutout of the season and second of her career.
On Saturday (Oct. 26), New Hampshire earned a 6-2 win over the Friars. Maureen Murphy (Buffalo, N.Y.) and Whitney Dove (Port Moody, British Columbia) scored Providence's goals in the loss. Sara Hjalmarsson (Bankeryd, Sweden), Chloe Gonsalves (Toronto, Ontario) and Meaghan Rickard (Coventry, R.I.) notched assists. Minnerath made 20 saves for a weekend total of 53.
Murphy leads the Friars in points (eight) and goals (five). Dove is the team leader in assists (six) and has seven total points. Hjalmarsson has six points (three goals, three assists). 13 different Friars have points on the season and 10 players have recorded at least one goal.
Minnerath is the only goaltender who has seen action in net. She holds a 2.23 goals against average and a .911 save percentage through eight games.
Minnerath Earns Defensive Player of the Week Honors
Minnerath was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week on Oct. 28. It marked her first league honor as a Friar. The senior netminder made a career-high 33 saves en route to her first shutout of the season against No. 3 Northeastern (Oct. 25). She posted a 1-1-0 record last week and made a total of 53 saves in two starts.
Burton Earns Rookie of the Week Honors
Burton scored a goal in each of her first two collegiate games, including the game winner against Quinnipiac (Oct. 5). For her efforts, she was named Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Oct. 7. Burton's two goals came on just two total shots over the weekend.
Hockey East Preseason Poll
The Friars were picked to finish fourth in the Hockey East Preseason poll, which was released on Thursday, Sept. 26. Providence received 56 points and was picked to finish behind Northeastern (81), Boston University (71) and Boston College (65).
Rounding out the poll were New Hampshire (42), UConn (41), Merrimack (30), Maine (29), Vermont (25), and Holy Cross (nine).
Meet the Staff
Matt Kelly joined the Friars in 2018-19 for his inaugural season at the helm. He led the team to a 24-11-2 record, helping p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 3.0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 12.1px; font: 11.0px 'Myriad Pro Condensed'; color: #211d1e} p.p2 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 3.0px; text-align: justify; line-height: 11.1px; font: 11.0px 'Myriad Pro Condensed'; color: #211d1e} the Friars to tie the program-high for wins in a season. Kelly led Providence to the Hockey East Semifinals for the first time since 2013 and coached three Friars to Hockey East honors at the conclusion of the season.
Prior to Providence, Kelly served as a Head Scout for USA Hockey and the Women's National Team. His primary responsibility was to oversee and maintain the player pools for the U-18 and U-22 squads, in addition to the Women's National Team. During his time with USA Hockey, Kelly won a total of eleven gold medals. He recently captured a gold medal with the Women's National Team at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang. Additionally, he helped the U18 team win four-consecutive gold medals (2015-2018). This marked the first time any U18 team won four World Championships in a row.
Kelly hired Jake Anderson, Ali Domenico and Doug Ferry to round out his staff. Anderson focused mainly on the Friars' defensive unit during his first season. Providence gave up just 1.89 goals per game in 2018-19, which ranked seventh nationally. The Friars' penalty kill also ranked seventh, killing off 87.4 percent of opponents' opportunities. Domenico guided the Friars' offensive unit in her first season. Providence finished 13th nationally in goals per game, averaging 2.81 per game. The power play unit also finished 13th nationally, converting at on 19.1 percent of chances.
Fresh Friar Faces
Providence welcomes eight new players to the roster for the 2019-20 season. Isabelle Hardy (Oakville, Ontario) comes from Canada as the remaining six enter Providence from the United States; Lauren DeBlois (Lewiston, Maine), Bailey Burton (Bloomington, Minn.), Delaney Couture (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Sonja Bjornson (Philadelphia, Pa.), Jamie Comeau (Wakefield, R.I.) and Katrina Broccoli (North Haven, Conn.).
Hjalmarsson with Team Sweden
During the off-season, Sara Hjalmarsson had several chances to compete for Team Sweden. She was named to Sweden's National Team roster for the 2019 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship. She played four games for Team Sweden without tallying a point.
2018-19 Award Winners
The team had four players pick up Hockey East post-season honors. Murphy earned Second Team All-Star status for the second-consecutive season. Myers and Fransoo were named All-Star Honorable Mentions, marking each of their first-career league honors. Additionally, Sara Hjalmarsson was named to the All-Rookie Team.
Five different Friars earned Hockey East Weekly honors over the course of the season. Myers was named Defensive Player of the Week twice (Nov. 12, Mar. 4). Christina Putigna (Nov. 5), Maureen Murphy (Nov. 19) and Hayley Lunny (Nov. 26) each earned Player of the Week honors. Sara Hjalmarsson was named Rookie of the Week on Oct. 16.
Murphy and Myers were also recognized with monthly awards from the league. Myers was Hockey East Goaltender of the Month in November and February. Murphy was Hockey East Player of the Month in November.
Scouting the Crusaders
Holy Cross sits at 0-6-3 overall and 0-3-0 in Hockey East. The Crusaders are most recently coming off of a 5-1 loss at Boston College (Oct. 25) and a 2-2 tie against RPI (Oct. 27). Two of the Crusaders' league games so far have come against the Eagles. As a team, Holy Cross averages 1.1 goals per game, while allowing 3.6. They have converted on 8.0% of power play chances and killed off 77.4% of penalties.
Who to Watch
Senior Rachel Moore leads the offense with six points on a goal and five assists. She is one of eight Holy Cross players with a goal so far this season. Mary Edmonds and Sommer Ross are the Crusaders with multiple goals, as they each have two on the season.
Sophomore Jada Brenon has seen a majority of the time in net. She's played seven games, holds a .899 save percentage and a 3.67 goals against average. Julia Pelletier has seen action in three games, including two starts. Her goals against average is 2.98 and her save percentage is .919.
Scouting the Eagles
Boston College remains undefeated (7-0-1) entering the weekend and is ranked No. 7 nationally. The Eagles have played nearly all league games, holding a 6-0-1 mark in Hockey East. Last weekend, BC hosted Holy Cross (W, 5-1) and Maine (T, 3-3). The Eagles rank seventh nationally in scoring offense (4.25 goals per game) and sixth in scoring defense (1.25 goals against per game).
Who to Watch
Freshman Hannah Bilka leads the Eagles in points (14) and goals (10). Kelly Browne and Cayla Barnes are the other BC players with double-digit points. Browne has one goal and 11 assists for 12 points, while Barnes has two goals and nine assists for 11 points. The Eagles' other top goal scorers are Savannah Norcross (five) and Lindsay Agnew (four).
Sophomore Maddy McArthur has played six games in net. She holds a 1.32 goals against average and a .940 save percentage with two shutouts.
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